British people. I need clarification

[Steaktartar]

So how many different types of ' tea times ' do you have? Is high tea the fancy one with sandwiches and cakes? And just 'tea'? Is that lunch? Also how often do you have high tea? Someone told me everyday or as often as possible? Surely you can't eat cake EVERYDAY?

Slight tangent here, but as a foriner I am forever confused by "tea" and "dinner" being used to mark certain times of day rather than just meals.

When people say "just come round after tea" or "I'll need this delivered before dinner" I always have to ask exactly what time they mean.

This confuses me, even more so as every family seems to be having these meals at different times, so "after tea" at the Jones' might mean anytime from 6, but at the Smiths' it's 7.

How are you supposed to know????

Weirdly, high tea is still popular in posh hotels in Singapore. I think it's a leftover from colonial days. It consists of various savoury dishes followed by tiny cakes and pastries, with tea (or champagne) and is eaten in the afternoon. I think in England in the days of Enid Blighton etc, high tea was mainly eaten by the children at about 5pm and was more than just cake - savoury cold food followed by cake.

Ok,in my bit of Scotland..

Tea - evening meal

Tea - cup of tea

Cream tea - scone with jam and cream, pot of tea

High tea (only ever taken at an external venue, not at home) main course, then tiered cake holder of cakes and scones. Pot of tea.

Afternoon tea (external venue again ) tiny sandwiches, tiny cakes, maybe champagne/Prosecco, pot of tea

Fish tea - sit down meal in a fish n chip shop comprising fish and chips, bread and butter and a pot of tea.

So many teas!

I think one might have had high tea, followed by supper just before bed. In this instance the tea would be cakes and sandwiches, o r maybe something on toast, and the supper would be milk or cocoa and a few biscuits. Possibly more cake or sandwich, depending on how greedy you were feeling!
Just as 'tea' can have several meanings, so can ' supper'.

Tea - made in a mug,with just a tiny splodge of milk
Tea - an evening meal usually between 5pm-7pm

"High tea" isn't a thing in my part of Scotland. Never heard anyone talk about it, no idea what it is.

So i didn't realise how confusing the whole 'tea' thing is until now!!

For us tea is either:
A cup of tea...but we call that 'having a brew' , 'are you brewing up', or 'stick the kettle on' ....
Or - our main evening meal eaten around 5-6pm.

At 12 noon (early afternoon) I either have dinner or lunch...both mean the same to me and I'm not really sure why I mix the 2

It’s all about class. Like everything else British. I’ll explain if you really want me to.

There is the 'tea' you drink and then high tea.

Meals are breakfast, lunch and dinner

2stepsonthewater, high tea is quite popular at the moment over here in the UK too, in hotels and restaurants, sometimes very expensive. Someone on here the other day was talking about it costing a bomb at the Ritz in London.

High Tea wedding receptions happen too.

All very pretty with lovely china, beautiful dainty sandwiches and little cakes.

I'm feeling hungry now.

As you're probably gathering, tea means different things to different people. This depends quite a bit on 'class' and region.

For some people the three meals are breakfast, dinner and tea (this is as a generalisation more working class and is more prevalent in certain regions). For some people it's breakfast, lunch and dinner. For me (lower middle class/upper working class background) it's breakfast, lunch and then these days I usually say dinner. When I was a child my mum said tea.

Tea is also a hot drink. I drink multiple cups a day with milk and sugar.

Afternoon tea is tea with little sandwiches and cakes. Usually in a cafe or hotel. Not a daily occurrence.

Cream tea is tea with scone and jam. Again, this is a treat. The sort of thing you do on holiday.

High tea as far as I'm concerned only exists in books from the past.

All very pretty with lovely china, beautiful dainty sandwiches and little cakes.

Isn't that Afternoon tea?

High tea always includes a savoury dish or course, usually hot. It could be something like Barnsley chops, or baked gammon, cabbage and mustard sauce, or a pie such as game pie.
There will also be bread and butter, jam or honey, possibly scones muffins or crumpets, and cake of course, often fruit cake or Victoria sponge.
If you've had high tea, later on you might partake of some supper. This could be toasted cheese, or toast with Gentleman's Relish, or possible scrambled eggs. What ever it is, it will ensure that you do not suffer from the dreaded Night Starvation.

Afternoon tea is entirely different, and consists of cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, French Fancies, eclairs, Genoa cake and lashings of tea.
Later on you will have actual dinner, as afternoon tea is just to tide you over until the real food arrives at dinner.

The Famous Five didn't have high tea every day, only when they weren't going to have supper, so they combined tea and supper into a bigger meal. I'm reading the books to my 6yo, I'd forgotten how much food was in them. Tea and supper both seem to be light meals, and dinner is the main meal at lunchtime.
My kids get tea at nursery and after school club, between 3.30 and 4.30. It's a light meal. Growing up, we sometimes had high tea, which for us was bread, cheese, ham type stuff, boiled eggs, and cake. And tea. It was at tea time, i.e. 6ish, in lieu of tea, i.e. a proper hot meal. Now I call the evening meal dinner, even if it's not v substantial. And tea is just a drink, unless it's a cream tea (scones and cream) or afternoon tea (which includes champagne, tiny sandwiches, cake and possibly scones and cream).
I can't understand why anyone finds it confusing, tbh.

Or is high tea becoming a thing too? I haven't been to a wedding for a while.

High tea is NOT a posh afternoon tea. It’s the meal that working class people would eat at about 5-6pm after finishing their (probably manual labour) jobs.

afternoontea.co.uk/information/what-is-high-tea/

Tea is a cup of tea.

Tea is also the evening meal, unless it's fish and chips and then it's a fish supper for reasons unknown.

Cream tea is scones and tea (and the order is jam then cream because it's the only obvious way to do it - throws grenade and runs )

Afternoon tea - scones, pots of Tea, cake, mini sandwiches and pastries. In good places it's quite substantial. In mediocre places it's party food in a fancy room

Breakfast, elevenses, brunch, lunch, tiffin, high tea, tea, dinner, supper. That should ensure you never go hungry.

As a child I had high tea when visiting grandpa's house every Saturday afternoon.

It comprised of salad with hot new potatos and ham or maybe quiche, salad cream, coleslaw and then followed by cake (Genoa, battenburg, cherry Madeira, French fancies) and scones ( no clotted cream) washed down with cups of tea.

I never have tea.

I don't drink it. We don't call any of our meals tea.

We have breakfast, lunch & supper. (Before school, at school/work, 6pm)

'High tea' was what we had when we visited my (elderly, stuffy) grandparents as a child. Mid afternoon.

'Tea' and what it means depends on class, upbringing & location.

I'm starting to suspect we're making the OP more confused than ever

The regional differences are interesting. But I think time is also a factor.

Growing up in Scotland we had -

Tea the drink at any time possible

Afternoon Tea was what you were served when you went visiting a family friend and you got to sit in the good sittingroom. It was tea, scones, cakes and Orange Barley Water for the kids.

High Tea was a meal you had between 4-7pm out at a bar or sit down chippy. It was fish or scampi, chips, mushy peas, bread and a pot of tea.

Cream Tea, is what my Nana and her pals went for in a naice hotel once a month. Tea, scones, jam and loads of whipped cream. (I'm having flashbacks of the smell of face powder, cream and Embassy cigarettes).

Tea is also dinner, your main evening meal and people used to use both eg. Mums gettin' tea ready so's a've got tae be quick.

Now though…
Afternoon tea or High tea is served in every cafe/bar/hotel as tea or champagne with a load of mini sandwiches and cakes.

None of my kids of their friends use tea for evening meal. They call both lunch and evening meal, dinner.

Tea is the meal you have in the evening. Usually around 5pm or 6pm ish. Anyone saying differently is wrong

Or if you're feeling fancy you can have an afternoon tea.
Which is dainty cups of tea and finger sandwiches, scones with cream and jam and maybe some mini cakes.

For us (upper middle class/colonial families):

• breakfast
• lunch
• teatime (4pm, cakes and tea from a tea pot)
• supper (sometimes also dinner) 6ish for DC, 8:30ish for adults

Teatime happens when we’re home or all out together.

I’ve had high tea once, at a hotel in Southwold in the late 1980s when we arrived about 4pm and my DSis and I were clearly famished.

Afternoon tea in a hotel I always feel a bit let down. I’d rather buy clotted cream and make big scones to eat hot!

Oh and elevenses at 11am. Cup of tea and a biscuit!